With apparent increases in global warming causing increased flooding there has been correspondingly increased interest in methods of ameliorating the effects of flooding, more particularly in the knowledge that with flood prevention being extremely difficult the focus of attention is increasingly directed towards limiting the damage caused by flooding and decreasing the time taken to the drying of water damaged rooms in buildings such that residential or commercial buildings can, be reoccupied in the shortest possible time.
Conventional methods for drying rooms in damp or water damaged buildings generally take three forms. The first is dehumidification by the use of refrigeration techniques. This usually involves the removal of moisture from the air using refrigerated surfaces which allow water to condense from the air and thereafter be removed. A second method is dehumidification using desiccants such as Silica Gel. The third method of drying waterlogged and water damaged rooms is by direct heating. This raises the temperature of the air in the room and the moisture in the walls and floor is removed due to accelerated evaporation.
These three conventional methods of forced drying wet or waterlogged rooms have several known disadvantages. Refrigerant and desiccant technology has known inefficiency outside the optimum temperature/relative humidity range within the area being dried. Also, heat drying alone creates a rapid increase in relative humidity within the area being dried resulting in secondary damage from the heat itself or prolonged drying or cessation of the drying efficiency. Similarly, with the methods involving dehumidification using the refrigeration or desiccant process, or by using direct heating to raise the temperature of the air in the room, unless the moisture level is constantly monitored there is no indication as to when the process has been satisfactorily completed, leading to increased risk of secondary damage, uncertainty and the potential for energy wastage after the initial objective of drying a damp or waterlogged room has been achieved.
An alternative approach is described in WO2010/007380 (PCT/GB2009/001770), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In that document, a method for drying waterlogged or water damaged buildings is described which constantly monitors the effectiveness of the drying process by reference to several criteria including air temperature, air humidity, wall and floor temperature, humidity and electrical conductivity.
In particular the method described in WO2010/007380 includes drying damp or waterlogged rooms within a building including the steps of sealing the room from outside ambient air ingress and heating it internally until the inside ambient air therewithin is warm and humid following surface evaporation of water in the room, thereafter exhausting the warm and humid air from the room and drawing in outside ambient air, and monitoring humidity levels within the room, the sequence continuing in cycle until an indication is received that the room is suitably dry.